IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION A

Abstract

Usually when architects think of “context” it refers to designing with existing historical or urban fabric. Today, designing “with context” is an assumption so familiar that there is little critical thinking about it. However this was not always the case: in the middle of the 20th century the idea of contextual design was a relatively new critique of a globalized Modernism. Contextual design has so many advantages: it creates continuity of people, culture, and ecosystems. Yet there are several urban problems that are not being addressed by this state of affairs, namely affordable housing at the scale of what is needed in cities today. This essay proposes going Out Of Context to critically identify, interrogate, and reformulate rules and assumptions about design and urban issues that no longer serve us. This essay explores the idea that the solution to housing is not only a problem of technique but one of culture. There are two main areas of focus, each of which has a design process attached to it. First, a focus on influencing culture to partner with and persuade communities of our vision. The second focus is on architectural craft as the place where the concept of context begins. A design studio taught at Pratt Institute School of Architecture is used as a case study. As the architectural profession is in the midst of an identity crisis, going Out Of Context leads to a critical framework that can suggest new solutions to persistent urban issues.